Turkish troops launch offensive into northern Syria, says Erdogan Archived Message Posted by Mary on October 9, 2019, 2:34 pm 6 minutes ago Turkish troops have begun an offensive in northern Syria, which could bring them into direct conflict with Kurdish-led forces allied to the United States. The move was announced by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey wants to create a "safe zone" cleared of a Kurdish militia that will also house some of Turkey's 3.6 million Syrian refugees. Donald Trump controversially withdrew US troops ahead of the action but says Turkey may face economic consequences. The Kurds were key US allies in defeating the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Mr Trump's withdrawal of the few dozen US troops in the border area was seen as a "stab in the back" by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and drew condemnation even from the president's Republican allies. He responded to the criticism by threatening to "obliterate" Turkey's economy if it went "off limits" in the incursion, saying Turkey should "not do anything outside of what we would think is humane". The Kurds guard thousands of IS fighters and their relatives in prisons and camps in areas under their control and it is unclear whether they will continue to be safely detained.' BBC Breaking News Message Thread: Turkish troops launch offensive into northern Syria, says Erdogan - Mary October 9, 2019, 2:34 pm Turkey launches offensive in northern Syria with air strikes - Tomski October 9, 2019, 7:31 pm Everyone continues to bemoan the 8 year long "civil war" - an invasion is never a civil war! nm - CJ October 10, 2019, 4:03 am Not everyone CJ. BiBiC does though. Well spotted ... - Tomski October 10, 2019, 3:03 pm   Searching